Meizu has officially unveiled the Meizu M6, the latest device in its low-cost range of handsets. The device maintains the ultra-competitive price tag of last year’s Meizu M5, but delivers only a handful of minor improvements.

Meizu Pro 7 Plus review

1 week ago

Though the above specs are exactly the same as on the M5, the M6 has received a front camera upgrade, which now comes in at 8 MP with an f/2.0 aperture compared the 5 MP sensor last year. The rear camera, meanwhile, comes in at 13 MP with an RGBW color sensor. Meizu is said to have once again worked with imaging technology company ArcSoft improve the noise reduction and HDR photography capabilities of its cameras.

Other specs include a 3,070 mAh battery (with micro-USB connectivity), fingerprint scanner and Flyme 6 software — based on Android Nougat — running out of the box.

The Meizu M6 has gone through a redesign and will launch in four color options: Matte Black, Champagne Gold, Electric Light Blue and Moonlight Silver. Though the press materials might lead you to believe you’re looking at a metal handset this year, the M6 actually makes use of a fancy polycarbonate treatment process which makes its plastic body only look like metal — something which seems like a good way to keep costs low and while ensuring that the device looks the part.

As far as pricing is concerned, the 2 GB RAM + 16 GB ROM variant will go on sale for ¥699 (~$105), while the 3 GB RAM + 32 GB ROM version comes in at ¥899 (~$135). This represents a good deal on paper, but as we saw with last year’s Meizu M5, the software experience could let it down — and perhaps there hasn’t been enough of an upgrade for fans to consider this device rather than the M5.

The Meizu M6 will be released on September 25 in China, but there’s no word yet on a release in other territories. We’ll let you know when we learn more.

What are your initial thoughts on the Meizu M6? Let us know in the comments.

When we reviewed the Meizu Pro 6 Plus earlier this year, we were very impressed by its excellent hardware. We made sure to note just how much Meizu’s Flyme 6 software helped the phone stand out amongst a sea of mid-range smartphones.

Four months later (our Pro 6 Plus review was admittedly a little late…) and we are ready to share our thoughts on Meizu’s most striking phone yet, the Meizu Pro 7 Plus. The Pro 7 Plus promises a signature Meizu experience with an added bonus: a secondary rear-facing display.

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You may be asking yourself “but why?” Perhaps you’re curious about the display’s implementation and features. Or you might be wondering if the Pro 7 Plus is a good buy, regardless of the secondary display. Let’s answer all of those questions and more with our comprehensive Meizu Pro 7 Plus review!

Design

If we ignore the addition of a secondary display for just a second, the Pro 7 Plus design is quite similar to that of the Pro 6 Plus. That shouldn’t be taken as a drawback though. We really liked the Pro 6 Plus’ design and are happy to see a familiar design here.

The first thing you'll notice is how well built it feels

The first thing you’ll notice when picking up the Pro 7 Plus is how well built it feels. That may sound a tad cliché, but the Pro 7 Plus truly shines in this regard. The choice of materials especially helps the phone feel premium.

The aluminum unibody isn’t just strong and sleek. It actually feels softer than you would expect too, which makes the Pro 7 Plus more comfortable in the hand.

Unfortunately, this softer aluminum also means that the Pro 7 Plus is quite slippery. The flat edges do help make the phone easier to grip, but you may still want to consider a case. Thankfully, Meizu includes a free plastic case in the box.

Returning to the design, the Pro 7 Plus is available in a number of attractive color options: matte black, space black, silver, and gold. There is also a smaller Pro 7 model that is available in a bright red. As you likely suspected, we are reviewing the matte black model. The other Pro 7 Plus color options feature brushed aluminum instead if you prefer a more showy look.

The matte black unit is definitely more minimal looking though. The curved antenna lines at the top and bottom of the phone are barely noticeable. Aspects like the flush, curved, and cornered secondary display glass along with the carefully chamfered edges help the phone feel like a single piece of hardware.

We would have liked to see more understated Meizu branding on the bottom right instead of the silver, tactile branding as it slightly detracts from the phone’s minimal look. With that said, we can appreciate the uniqueness of this approach this time around.

Smaller details like the integrated light and proximity sensors in the earpiece and symmetrical top and bottom bezels add some serious polish to the overall design. It was details like these that made us repeatedly admire our unit’s premium build during our time with it.

The Pro 7 Plus does not include any water or dust protection

Unlike many true flagship smartphones, the Pro 7 Plus does not include any water or dust protection. This is not very surprising given the cost of implementing such protection, but it’s something to keep in mind if you are also considering more expensive options.

One of the more controversial aspects of Meizu’s smartphones is their single-key navigation configuration. With the Pro 7 Plus and mTouch, you go home by physically pressing down on the button and go back by tapping the button. For multitasking, you just swipe up from either the left or right side of the bottom bezel.

Almost everyone is accustomed to a three-key layout, where every function is visually represented. Perhaps the fear of change is why some people dislike the idea of a single button, but other OEMs have also offered it. While it can take a day or two to get used to, you may well end up loving this setup for its clever simplicity.

Navigation isn’t all the Pro 7 Plus’ single key can do though — it’s also a fingerprint reader. Although it’s not as quick as the quickest out there, it is still very much comparable to options like the Samsung Galaxy S8 and LG G6.

Since the Pro 7 Plus is running the same Flyme 6 software as its predecessor, it also includes the same extra fingerprint reader features. App lock, for example, allows you to add an extra layer of fingerprint security on a per-app basis.

There are also some powerful per-finger features. For example, you can select certain contacts, apps, and files to only be available in privacy mode. You could then make it so that one finger gives you access to those items while your other fingers do not.

Primary Display

Similar to its predecessor, the Pro 7 Plus is sporting a 5.7-inch Quad HD Super AMOLED display. We already declared the Pro 6 Plus’ display to be one of the best in this price category and the Pro 7 Plus’ display is even better.

The Meizu Pro 7 Plus has an all around excellent display

Color reproduction is excellent, the display is well saturated for punchy colors, and sunlight readability is fairly good. It’s an all around excellent display.

We also really like the size. While 5.5-inches is a great middle ground, it’s nice that Meizu is giving customers the choice between a smaller 5.2-inch display with the Pro 7 and a larger 5.7-inch screen on the Pro 7 Plus. If you watch a lot of videos and frequently browse the mobile web, this size is perfect.

Meizu has dropped their 3D Press technology with this iteration of the Pro line, which is understandable since it was never a very useful feature. If this is something you really want, the Pro 6 Plus is still available.

There’s also no Always On Display (AOD) feature this time around. That’s because there’s a new way to check the time: with the secondary display.

Secondary Display

The Meizu Pro 7 Plus’ secondary display is unmistakably its standout feature. It may even be the sole reason that you’re checking out this review. Its uniqueness makes it a very enticing feature.

The Meizu Pro 7 Plus has a secondary 1.9-inch 240 × 536 AMOLED panel on the back

The secondary display is positioned on the top left area on the back of the Pro 7 Plus. The display itself covers a good portion of the glass below the camera configuration. In case you’re wondering, it’s a 1.9-inch 240 × 536 AMOLED panel. That’s a high enough resolution for what the display is.

So, what does it do? Well, there are three main information panels that you can swipe between: time, pedometer, and weather. These three panels provide some on-demand, basic information. The pedometer and weather panels have colorful animated icons, which is a nice touch.

The pedometer is independent of any app and appears to be very accurate when walking with the phone in your hand, but too liberal when walking with the phone in your pocket. The weather corresponds to what is shown in the system Weather app, which gets its data from Accuweather.

Here you can take photos...using the rear cameras!

If you swipe up or down on any of the information panels, you get to the viewfinder mode. Here you can take photos…using the rear cameras! This allows you to capture considerably higher quality selfies than if you were to use the front-facing camera (comparison under Camera).

There’s also no fussing around with unlocking the phone and getting to the camera app, which makes it easy to get a quick photo.

In addition to these on-demand core features, the secondary display also shows “new notification” for all notifications, music controls for the system Music app, event times and titles prior to an event, alarms, and the battery percentage when charging.

There seems to be some confusion surrounding how you activate the secondary display. To clarify, it is not an always on display. Instead, it activates when it thinks you turn the phone from front to back. If you have the Pro 7 Plus facing screen down on a table, picking up the phone is not enough to activate the secondary display. You have to turn the phone to the front first and then turn it around to the back.

Thankfully, there is an optional double tap to wake feature which lets you activate the secondary screen manually by just double tapping on it.

The secondary display only shows the time in a 24-hour format and the temperature in Celsius, even if you have 12-hour and Fahrenheit formats selected in the phone settings. We can forgive this since the phone is not intended for sale in the United States, one of the only countries still using 12-hour and Fahrenheit formats.

It's one of the coolest smartphone features that we've seen this year

Overall: we are very pleased with the innovation by Meizu that brought us the secondary display. It’s one of the coolest smartphone features that we’ve seen this year, which is saying a lot. We are sure you can share our appreciation of Meizu’s successful attempt to differentiate.

With that said, we do feel that the secondary display could be improved. The hardware implementation is great, but the software could use some work. That’s absolutely fine given that this is the first try; I mean, can you imagine using Android 1.0 today?

On the top of our wish list are improvements to current features. We wish we could see actual notifications (or at least which app is sending them), be able to control third party music apps, and record video using the camera viewfinder. We believe that the secondary screen could use some new features too. We would like to be able to view our daily agenda, put the phone in and out of silent mode, and set timers and alarms.

Some good news: all of our wishes and likely most of yours can be fulfilled with future software updates instead of hardware changes. This is very promising, especially considering Meizu’s historical commitment to system updates.

At the moment, the secondary screen does not add much functional value

At the moment, however, the secondary screen does not add much functional value. It looks very cool, no doubt, but it’s not going to change how you use your smartphone a whole lot. As long as you manage your expectations, you’ll still enjoy this unique feature and all of the conversations that it helps start.

Performance

Meizu has chosen the 10nm deca-core MediaTek Helio X30 processor for the Pro 7 Plus. The Pro 7 Plus is actually the only popular smartphone to use the Helio X30, MediaTek’s high-end processor for 2017.

If you were to consider only benchmark test results, you would think the Pro 7 Plus would perform below average. Perhaps this is why our unit’s software blocks outgoing connections for benchmark apps to test and verify their results. Although we cannot confirm yet, it appears that there are some shenanigans going on here. Therefore, we cannot endorse the accuracy of these benchmark results.

In our experience, however, day-to-day performance on the Meizu Pro 7 Plus was excellent, although only marginally better than the Pro 6 Plus. There are a few big things that help pick up the processor’s slack though: 6 GB of RAM, fast UFS 2.1 storage, and well-optimized software.

Meizu’s One Mind AI optimizations combined with numerous nifty animations especially help smooth out the performance. When compared side-by-side to the Galaxy S8, the Pro 7 Plus often loaded apps and menus just a tad quicker.

Hardware

You can use up to two different nano SIM cards with the Meizu Pro 7 Plus. Since it is sold as an unlocked smartphone, you won’t have to worry about being restricted to any single carrier either.

For a United States audience, please note that this phone is incompatible with US 4G LTE networks. When using the Pro 7 Plus with AT&T, you may get LTE in rural areas thanks to legacy Band 5 coverage, but you can really only expect 3G. With T-Mobile, you can expect 3G in only a few areas.

The Meizu Pro 7 Plus is incompatible with US 4G LTE networks

While the Pro 7 Plus is not intended for sale in the US, we want to make sure that those who might import the device understand this limitation exists.

Similar to its predecessor, there is no expandable storage option with the Pro 7 Plus. This choice was likely made to avoid mixing slow microSD card storage with the phone’s fast UFS 2.1 internal storage. The base model’s 64 GB of storage should be plenty of storage for most users and, if you think you might need more, there is also a 128 GB model available.

Meizu has removed NFC with the Pro 7 Plus

Strangely, Meizu has removed NFC with the Pro 7 Plus. Perhaps there wasn’t enough internal space with the secondary display to implement an NFC antenna, or perhaps Meizu has data on its lack of usage. Regardless of the reasoning, some users may really miss this connectivity and contactless payment option.

The bottom-firing internal speaker on the Pro 7 Plus is surprisingly very good and is a remarkable improvement from the Pro 6 Plus. It’s very loud with minimal distortion, which is not the case with the average smartphone these days.

There’s also 32-bit Hi-Fi audio through the 3.5mm headphone jack. It has a Cirrus Logic CS43130 DAC + AMP combo, which is the exact same chip that’s in the Galaxy S8. Audio output through the headphone jack is loud and clear, as we expected.

Battery life

Meizu has bumped the battery capacity from 3,400 mAh with the Pro 6 Plus to 3,500 mAh with the Pro 7 Plus. Overall, we experienced similar battery life. That’s good news as the Pro 6 Plus’ battery life was quite strong.

As you can see from the screenshots above, we averaged about five and a half hours of screen on time during twenty-four hour periods with moderate usage. Since our battery life tests were conducted while connected to HSPA+ instead of 4G LTE, however, we suspect that our results may be slightly inflated. We also note the higher standby usage this time around, perhaps due to the Helio X30.

We estimate that you’ll be able to comfortably get a full day of use with four and a half hours of screen on time with the Meizu Pro 7 Plus’ battery. With lighter usage, you could very well get one and a half days of use with this phone.

We were able to get a 65-percent charge in just thirty minutes

When you need to top off the Pro 7 Plus’ battery, you can do so with mCharge 4.0 fast charging. We were able to get a 65-percent charge in just thirty minutes, which is extremely quick. It’s even 12-percent quicker than Dash Charge on the OnePlus 5, based on capacity.

Camera

The Meizu Pro 7 Plus features the same Sony IMX386 12 MP f/2.0 rear camera as its predecessor. However, there have been some changes; there’s no more laser autofocus, the 10-LED ring flash has been replaced by two LEDs, and the camera is no longer optically stabilized.

Another Sony IMX386 12 MP f/2.0 camera has been added though, making this a dual-camera setup. The secondary camera captures monochrome images which supposedly helps produce higher quality images. We would have preferred that the secondary camera instead be a wide angle or telephoto lens, but this setup shouldn’t be brushed off.

Overall performance is about what we would expect at this price

Images look pretty similar to those taken by the Pro 6 Plus. Color reproduction is excellent, there’s a good level of contrast, and images are quite detailed. Overall performance is about what we would expect at this price. Unfortunately, the lack of optical image stabilization translated to some blurry shots when we didn’t have a perfectly steady hand.

Thanks in part to its dual lenses, the Pro 7 Plus also offers a dual lens blur mode. This mode works by isolating the subject from the background and then by applying an artificial background blur. Chances are that you have already seen something similar to this on other smartphones. Basically, the added bokeh is supposed to make images look more professional, like those shot from a DSLR.

The dual lens blur mode is pretty hit or miss

We tested the feature in a number of different situations and found that it’s pretty hit or miss. Sometimes it works almost perfectly with accurate edges on the subject and a gradual blur. Other times, however, the edges are inaccurate and the blur is too sudden.

This is Meizu’s first implementation of this feature, so we will cut them some slack. We are certain that the feature can be improved with future software updates.

As expected, low-light camera samples didn’t come out as impressive at daytime shots. Colors aren’t as punchy, there’s a loss of detail, and there’s a fair bit of digital noise in most of our sample images. We would still say it performs about average for an affordable smartphone.

Although you can take selfies using the rear facing cameras thanks to the secondary display, there’s still a 16 MP f/2.0 front-facing camera. Selfies taken with the front-facing camera came out quite well.

You can record videos at up to 1080P at 30fps with the front camera and at up to 4K at 30fps with the rear camera. Videos recorded with the rear camera come out very nicely. Colors look pretty good and there’s a good amount of detail. Check out our video review at the top of this page to see a short sample clip.

Meizu has stuck with the new HEVC codec for video files. This codec retains video quality while offering smaller, more compressed files. The only drawback is that the files can be difficult to play on some devices. Don’t worry though, as you can easily convert the files if you have trouble.

The system camera app will feel very familiar if you’ve used a Meizu device in the past. Regardless, it offers an easy-to-use, intuitive shooting experience. There are multiple modes as well as some filters that you can play around with.

You can quickly access the camera with a double press of the home button. You can do this anytime the phone is on. So, even if it is locked, you can just double press the home button to quickly launch the camera. We really like this implementation.

Software

The Meizu Pro 7 Plus runs Android 7.1.1 Nougat, but the software is quite different from stock Android. Meizu has layered on its Flyme 6 skin, which we applauded in our Pro 6 Plus review. It’s not for everyone, but it’s great for those looking for something different.

Flyme 6 isn't for everyone, but it's great for those looking for something different

We maintain our assertion that Flyme 6 is one of the most well designed Android skins to date. Flyme’s polished user experience truly adds value to the Pro 7 Plus. You will love the clean design, fun animations, and extra features that come bundled with the Pro 7 Plus’ software.

The user interface design is especially remarkable. You’ll find that it’s colorful, bold, and responsive, which translates into an intuitive user experience. The design language is very consistent throughout the software, from the menus to the system apps.

We also appreciate the extra security features that Meizu has added on top of stock Android. The secure payment mode and Wi-Fi network security scanning, for example, help users stay protected against potential attacks.

It is slightly unlikely that Meizu will bring Android 8.0 Oreo to the global Pro 7 Plus

Just one more thing to keep in mind — Meizu’s system updates focus on changes to Flyme more so than Android versions. While it is slightly unlikely that Meizu will bring Android 8.0 Oreo to the global Pro 7 Plus, you should know that most new Android features are implemented into Flyme anyway. Still, we understand that this lack of software support might be a turn off for some.

Gallery

Price

The global version of the Meizu Pro 7 Plus will be available soon in matte black, space black, silver, and gold for around $530. The global Pro 7 will also be available soon in matte black, gold, and red for around $430.

Meizu is planning an official release in 17 different markets. We do not recommend importing this device from China though as you cannot use global firmware on non-global units.

Conclusion

The Pro 7 Plus is one of the most unique smartphones that we have reviewed this year. With it, Meizu has not only delivered a fresh software experience on top of a great overall package, but has also implemented a very cool looking secondary display.

The secondary display helps the Pro 7 Plus truly stand out...

The secondary display helps the Pro 7 Plus truly stand out from the countless other smartphones out there. It substantially adds to the phone’s aesthetic while also serving as an excellent conversation starter.

But don’t buy this phone just for the secondary display. While the screen can definitely be useful at times, it’s still very much a first generation concept. It’s chic, yes, but you should think of it as a bonus item rather than a sole reason for a purchase.

...but you should think of it as a bonus item rather than a sole reason for a purchase

That’s not to say that the Meizu Pro 7 Plus isn’t worth the money. Its well-designed software and excellent hardware make it a very serious competitor to the Xiaomi Mi 6 and the OnePlus 5 – if you live somewhere you can take full advantage of what it offers.

If you’re looking for something genuinely unique and can get past its quirks, the Meizu Pro 7 Plus is an excellent choice. We are confident that future software updates will only improve the secondary display and overall experience.

As always, please feel free to leave any questions or comments in the comment section below!

Meizu has released a ton of smartphones so far that are powered by MediaTek’s chipsets. Additionally, the company announced the Pro 6 Plus at the end of last year that uses a Samsung Exynos chipset, while the recently revealed M6 Note features a Snapdragon SoC. This got people wondering about Meizu’s direction in the future, with some thinking that the company might mostly use Qualcomm’s chipsets from now on.

To avoid confusion, Meizu has now shared more details about its hardware plans, saying that it will work closely with all three chip manufacturers.

We will use all three major SoC OEMs for our future devices; Samsung Exynos, Qualcomm Snapdragon, and MediaTek. Each one offers a unique advantage, and will complement our products differently. — Ard Boudeling, Head of Global Marketing at Meizu

Meizu Pro 7 and Pro 7 Plus arrive, unique rear display in tow

July 26, 2017

So, there you have it. Meizu isn’t loyal to just one manufacturer and plans on using chipsets made by all three major players in the market. This does have a number of advantages, with one of them being minimizing the chances of experiencing any supply shortages.

Once upon a time, standing out in the smartphone realm was as simple as having a faster processor, some more RAM, throwing in a fingerprint scanner, and maybe upping that screen size to something bigger than the competition. In 2017, manufacturers are forced to get a bit more creative — introducing things like eye scanners, dual cameras, infinity displays, secondary tickers, and, in Meizu’s case, a brand new rear display.

As previously revealed in leaks just a few weeks back, Meizu has now taken the wraps off its unique rear display, which makes its debut in the newly announced Meizu Pro 7 and Pro 7 Plus. As you can see in the images, a secondary display is placed on the backside, not totally unlike the YotaPhone series, though this one is actually fully color and much smaller at just 2-inches. While the exact resolution hasn’t been disclosed, we can tell you its a Super AMOLED panel.

Is the rear display genuinely useful, or just another gimmick?

So is this genuinely useful, or just another gimmick? Only time will tell for sure, but it’s certainly different. Meizu touts the screen as a way to perform selfies with the rear camera, change music, and do other quick functions without turning on the bigger, more power hungry front display.

Moving past the display, the Meizu Pro 7 and Pro 7 Plus both offer dual cameras as well, with resolutions of 12MP. Essentially it’s the same setup as the new Moto Z2 Force, with the exact same sensor package onboard. On the front, you’ll find a 16MP sensor that is designed to make low-light selfies stand out with a new algorithm called “four-in-one” — though we can’t verify whether it works as well as claimed until we get hands on time with the phone.

As for the rest of the specs, that’s where things begin to differ between the two models. Starting with the Meizu Pro 7 Plus, you get a 5.7-inch QHD Super AMOLED display. 6GB RAM, 64 or 128GB storage, a 3,500 mAh battery, and MediaTek’s latest chipset, the Helio X30.

Turning to the mid-range Meizu Pro 7, you get a 5.2-inch Full HD display, a MediaTek P25, 4GB RAM, 64GB storage, and a 3,000 mAh battery. To confuse matters more, there’s also a ‘higher end’ Pro 7, which has the same display but opts for the faster Helio X30 and 128GB storage. Regardless of which model you end up with, the entire series features Meizu mCharge 4.0 fast charging and the latest version of Flyme, version 6 — based on Nougat.

Both the Meizu Pro 7 and Pro 7 Plus go on sale August 5th, starting at $430 and $530 respectively. Keep in mind that it will only be available in about 17 markets, at least in an official capacity. No, the US isn’t one of them, though you will likely find it up for import in the not too distant future.

What do you think of Meizu’s latest, interested or not? Would you like to see more manufacturers embrace rear viewfinder displays? Tell us down in the comments.

It’s official: we finally know when the Meizu Pro 7 will be revealed. The company has announced on Chinese social site Weibo that it will hold a press conference in China on July 26 to introduce the new handset.

The company didn’t mention if the Meizu Pro 7 Plus will also make its debut at the event, but we expect that the company will show off both devices at the same time. Meizu didn’t share any details about the upcoming smartphones, we still don’t know much about them, however, an image from the Meizu event invitation (seen above) confirms the inclusion of a secondary display (as had been previously speculated).

This display will seemingly allow you to play games and might also be used as a viewfinder for selfies. While those possibilities don’t sound that interesting, it will probably offer a few more functions, so we’ll reserve our judgment until we actually see and test out the device.

Meizu M5c is a colorful mid-ranger with 5-inch screen and 2 GB of RAM

May 23, 2017

The Meizu Pro 7 and Pro 7 Plus are expected to be quite similar in terms of design and specs. The Meizu Pro 7 is rumored to come with a 5.2-inch 1080p display and the MediaTek Helio X30 chipset, while its bigger brother might feature a 5.5-inch screen. Some rumors also suggest that the Plus version will be powered by the Exynos 8895 chipset, which is found in some versions of the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus.

Other things worth mentioning are a dual-camera setup on the back with 12 MP sensors, a fingerprint scanner located on the front, a headphone jack, and a USB Type-C port. Again, nothing has been confirmed yet, so we’ll have to wait until next week to see if the rumors are true or false.

We’ve seen LG try its hand at implementing additional displays on smartphones with the LG V10 and V20. These have a small, extra screen inserted at the top of the main panel to provide further functionality. It appears that Meizu also wants to pursue this idea, as recent leaks suggest its upcoming phones will also have an additional screen.

…on their back.

The Meizu Pro 7 and Pro 7 Plus were leaked earlier today in a CAD render from OnLeaks and CompareRaja.in and, well, they certainly look unique. CompareRaja speculates that the rear display would be an E-Ink offering like on the YotaPhone, though previous rumors suggest it’s actually an LCD.

Gizmochina (via GSMArena) got its hands on photos of the phone which show the screen being used to play a Pacman-like game in color. GSMArena suggests that the display may also be used as a viewfinder for rear selfies.

Meanwhile, the CAD render indicates that the devices will launch with USB Type-C, a dual rear camera, front-facing home button (and possibly fingerprint scanner), as well as a bottom-mounted headphone jack and speaker.

Various other specs possibilities have been flying around in rumors too. The Meizu Pro 7 is tipped to arrive with a 5.2-inch, 1080p display, while the Pro 7 Plus would arrive with a 5.5-inch display or larger. They’re said to also house a MediaTek Helio X30 chipset, with 12 MP rear camera sensors (IMX386 and IMX286).

Meizu M5c is a colorful mid-ranger with 5-inch screen and 2 GB of RAM

As for the prices, these are currently tipped to be in the region of CNY 2,799 ($412) for the Pro 7 and between CNY 3,299 ($485) and CNY 3,799 ($559) for various versions of the Meizu Pro 7 Plus.

The rear display idea is, of course, quite outrageous, but I’m not opposed to it: we’re always looking for innovation from smartphones and it’s definitely a fresh approach. What troubles me isn’t the notion of it, but the implementation. I mean, what functional purpose could a small display serve in that position? As it’s combined with the camera sensors, the idea that it may aid the composition of rear-selfies makes sense. But beyond that, I can’t really picture what value that screen is going to add. In what other circumstances would using a small LCD screen on the rear of a phone be better than using the larger (probably higher quality) display on the front? Is Pacman more fun on a 2-inch panel?

Meizu hasn’t confirmed anything at this point so it is still too early to write-off these phones. What are your current thoughts on them, though? Let us know in the comments.

]]>http://www.androidauthority.com/meizu-pro-7-plus-specs-release-date-price-785879/feed/0Meizu M5c is a colorful mid-ranger with 5-inch screen and 2 GB of RAMhttp://www.androidauthority.com/meizu-m5c-colorful-mid-ranger-774466/
http://www.androidauthority.com/meizu-m5c-colorful-mid-ranger-774466/#respondTue, 23 May 2017 13:52:25 +0000http://www.androidauthority.com/?p=774466

Meizu has taken the wraps off its new smartphone today. Called the M5c, it’s suitable for those looking for an affordable mid-ranger. What this means is that its specs won’t blow your socks off, as it sports a 5-inch 720p display and is powered by an unspecified quad-core 1.3 GHz processor.

The Meizu M5c features an 8 MP primary camera with an f/2.0 aperture and a selfie snapper that has a 5 MP sensor. It has 2 GB of RAM and only 16 GB of storage. Luckily, there’s a microSD slot on board, so you can expand the storage for an additional 128 GB. Other things worth mentioning are a 3,000 mAh battery, dual-SIM support, and a plastic body.

Meizu said that the M5c was designed with international customers in mind. It’s actually the company’s first international device that will ship with the latest Flyme 6 OS on board.

You’re probably wondering how much will the smartphone retail for, right? Unfortunately, Meizu hasn’t shared any specific info regarding the price yet, but we do expect that the M5c will offer great bang for the buck just like the company’s other smartphones.

Once it goes on sale, you’ll be able to get the Meizu M5c in a bunch of different colors. These include red, blue, pink, gold, and black. However, it’s quite possible that not all color options will be released in every market.

]]>http://www.androidauthority.com/meizu-m5c-colorful-mid-ranger-774466/feed/0Meizu Pro 6 Plus review: great hardware augmented by excellent softwarehttp://www.androidauthority.com/meizu-pro-6-plus-review-770531/
http://www.androidauthority.com/meizu-pro-6-plus-review-770531/#commentsWed, 17 May 2017 13:10:49 +0000http://www.androidauthority.com/?p=770531While blockbuster smartphone manufacturers like Samsung and LG continue to target ultra high-end markets, some Chinese makers are working hard to develop comparable options at significantly lower price points. The affordable flagship trend was first widely covered in the media after OnePlus released the OnePlus One, and options from giants Huawei and ZTE have kept the buzz going.

Other grassroots-esque companies like Meizu and Xiaomi have long focused on value, including in the mid-range price segment. Despite a smaller amount of media coverage, companies like Meizu have consistently delivered affordable flagships of their own.

The Meizu Pro 6 Plus is Meizu’s latest flagship device. Its predecessor, the Meizu Pro 6, was a great smartphone but didn’t stand out much from competing options. But, is Meizu’s latest smartphone different? Let’s answer that question and more in our comprehensive Meizu Pro 6 Plus review!

Design

Meizu is sticking to its guns with the Pro 6 Plus’ design. The design here is really not much different from the Pro 6‘s. Aside from a bump in screen size from 5.2-inches to 5.7-inches, the Pro 6 Plus is, design-wise, just a slightly better, more refined version of the Pro 6.

Fortunately, this design is still very impressive. With an all-metal unibody, the Pro 6 Plus is both beautiful and ergonomic. Since the metal is also softer than most other metal smartphones, the phone has a very nice feel in the hand.

This means that it’s also quite slippery though, so you’ll have to be careful when handling it. You may want to consider picking up a case in order to avoid damaging the device.

Meizu states that the body assembly process alone takes thirty steps and 150 hours to complete, and that amount of effort definitely pays off. The craftsmanship is quite frankly incredible. The Pro 6 Plus’ edges are definite and easy to grip yet maintain a smooth transition with the rear. The side power and volume buttons are satisfyingly tactile, too.

Make no mistake, this is a high-end design at a mid-range price

Small details like the curved antenna lines, accented earpiece, and ring flash further indicate a keen attention to detail. Make no mistake, this is a high-end design at a mid-range price.

We also really enjoy Meizu’s single-key navigation setup. Instead of the three-key layout that you are likely used to, mTouch allows users to press the single button to go home and tap it to go back. Multitasking is done with a simple swipe up from either the left or right side of the bottom bezel.

The pros and cons of fingerprint scanner gestures

March 1, 2017

The multitasking menu has been redesigned for Flyme 6, too. The new design replaces the horizontal “cards” view with a vertical “screens” view. This makes it easier to close apps since you no longer have to change the direction of your finger between swipes.

The single key not only serves useful for navigation, however. It also functions as a fast and accurate fingerprint reader. While not as fast as the readers on some other phones like the OnePlus 3T, it certainly feels fast in everyday use.

You can also assign certain fingerprints to a guest mode and a privacy mode

What’s really nice about the Pro 6 Plus’ fingerprint reader experience are the extra features that Meizu has added. Not only can you use the reader in third party apps and for unlocking the phone, but you can also assign certain fingerprints to a guest mode and a privacy mode.

For example, you could use your right thumb for normal mode and your left thumb to access private contacts, apps, photos, videos, and files that you wouldn’t be able to access in normal mode. The software also gives you the option to lock specific apps with fingerprints.

Display

The 5.7-inch Quad HD Super AMOLED display on the Meizu Pro 6 Plus is a considerable improvement from the Pro 6‘s display and is one of the best displays available at this price.

Colors are punchy yet not too oversaturated

Colors are punchy yet not too oversaturated, the contrast is excellent, and sunlight readability is decent. These attributes help make for a wonderful viewing experience in everyday use.

It’s a pleasure to use the Pro 6 Plus for everything from reading articles to watching television shows. The slightly larger size (most competing options have 5.5-inch displays), too, makes for a slightly more immersive visual experience. The minimum brightness level is also low enough to be able to use the phone comfortably in a dark room.

Interestingly, Meizu has included 3D Press technology with the Pro 6 Plus. Meizu’s 3D Press works much like Apple’s 3D Touch, where you can access contextual menus with firm presses on the display. Unfortunately, it only works with select Meizu apps, so it’s not very useful day-to-day. Still, some will certainly appreciate its inclusion.

The Meizu Pro 6 Plus also includes an Always On Display (AOD) feature, similar to many other devices with OLED displays. It works just as you’d expect, and Meizu claims that it drains less than 1% of battery life per hour, so you won’t have to worry about draining your battery too much.

Performance

The Meizu Pro 6 Plus is powered by a Samsung Exynos 8890 Octa Core processor. The Exynos 8890 was used in some variants of the Samsung Galaxy S7 and the high-end 8890 is similar in performance to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 821.

The base model of the Pro 6 Plus has this chip clocked at 2.0 GHz, whereas the higher cost variant’s chip is clocked at 2.3 GHz. We tested the base model for this review, and while it doesn’t do extremely well in benchmarks, the 4 GB of LPDDR4 RAM and UFS 2.0 storage help ensure a smooth day-to-day experience.

In terms of processing power, the Pro 6 Plus is indeed shy of the OnePlus 3T and ZTE Axon 7. Although even further off from the very recently announced Xiaomi Mi 6, the overall performance difference is still marginal.

Meizu's One Mind AI improves performance by learning user habits

Importantly, Meizu’s Flyme 6 software has a few features which help compensate for these marginal hardware differences. Meizu’s One Mind AI, for example, improves performance by learning user habits. Meizu states that Flyme uses that model to better manage memory and decrease predicted app load times. It’s nice to see some real software innovation in this category.

There’s also a ton of animations scattered throughout the OS, which makes the experience seem snappier and more intuitive. While animations are nothing new in the smartphone space, Meizu has polished these animations so well that they feel worth mentioning.

Hardware

As you may have expected, the Pro 6 Plus includes two nano-SIM card slots. Since the phone is also unlocked out of the box, this means that you can use up to two SIM cards from the same or different mobile carriers with this single phone.

Sadly, there is no support for United States 4G LTE bands. To be fair, this phone is not intended for the US market and does support LTE bands for where it is being sold. However, you should definitely keep this in mind if you live in or travel to the US, as being limited to 3G is a pretty big drawback.

The storage is non-expandable

The Pro 6 Plus is available with either 64 or 128 GB of UFS 2.0 internal storage. Keep in mind that the storage is non-expandable, so if you think you might need more than 64 GB, you’ll want to go for the 128 GB model.

We understand that some may be disappointed by this choice, but it’s likely in order to avoid mixing slow microSD card storage with the phone’s fast internal storage. Doing so would result in a slower overall experience, which is likely why Meizu omitted this option.

Although the Pro 6 Plus’ hardware includes NFC and a heart rate monitor, both of these features were disabled in the global firmware at the time of writing. The hardware is here, but the global software is currently unable to work with it. Hopefully Meizu will fix this for global users very soon.

The single internal speaker on the Pro 6 Plus is pretty good. It’s loud enough for general use albeit a bit distorted at higher volumes. Still, it will certainly fit the bill for most users.

The Pro 6 Plus includes Hi-Fi audio with the 32-bit ES9018K2M DAC and ADI AD45275 amp

Those with 3.5mm headphones can breathe a sigh of relief as Meizu has decided to retain the 3.5mm headphone jack for the Pro 6 Plus. In addition, the Pro 6 Plus includes Hi-Fi audio with the 32-bit ES9018K2M DAC and ADI AD45275 amp.

Meizu is stressing energy efficiency with this audio setup. One of the ways in which this is achieved is through the software. Flyme automatically determines the type of audio device and then adjusts the gain as appropriate. This ensures that the volume levels stay within reasonable ranges for the device connected.

Battery life

Thanks to its large 3400mAh non-removable battery, the Pro 6 Plus is able to provide great battery life. We noticed a significant improvement in standby usage after upgrading to a beta version of Flyme 6, which seems to be the primary reason behind the substantially boosted numbers.

With Flyme 5, we averaged around three and a half hours of screen on time with nineteen hours of use. However, after upgrading to Flyme 6 beta, we averaged around five and a half hours of screen on time with twenty-six hours of use. That’s a pretty big difference, so our assessment and rating more heavily considers the Flyme 6 experience.

Unlike many of the smartphone battery life tests completed here at Android Authority, these tests were conducted over AT&T’s HSPA+ network instead of an LTE network. This is because the Meizu Pro 6 Plus does not support 4G LTE in the United States, so we had no choice but to use the phone with 3G only. Please understand that actual battery life will thus be less when using the phone on an LTE number.

Thankfully, Meizu has adopted the new USB Type-C 3.1 standard for the Pro 6 Plus. This allows for super fast data transfers plus mCharge 60W fast charging. We were able to charge the phone from 0 to 50 percent in thirty minutes and to 100 percent in sixty minutes.

The Pro 6 Plus is one of the fastest charging phones we've ever used

If you consider the amount of charge taking place in that amount of time, the Pro 6 Plus is one of the fastest charging phones we’ve ever used. It’s just a shame that it’s not a more ubiquitous fast charging standard, as you’ll be severely limited in charger selection.

Camera

The Meizu Pro 6 Plus is equipped with a Sony IMX386 12 MP f/2.0 rear camera with laser autofocus, 4-axis optical image stabilization, and a dual-tone 10-LED ring flash. Interestingly, the same Sony IMX386 camera sensor has been used in the rival Xiaomi Mi 6.

Of course, we’ve seen time and time again that specs don’t always make or break image quality, so it’s important to analyze sample images to make a better judgement. Thankfully, we’ve captured a bunch of images in both good and poor lighting.

Images taken in good lighting turned out quite well. General color reproduction is excellent; images have just the right amount of contrast and saturation. Photos are also sharp and detailed despite the lower megapixel count.

We did notice some processing issues with bright reds

Dynamic range seems to be great too. The camera balanced the highlights and shadows of many shots very well, allowing for more realistic photos. We did notice some processing issues with bright reds, but this is far from unusual at this price. Otherwise, daytime photos look great.

Camera performance does fall apart in low-light scenarios, however. Images are softer, colors become muted, and digital noise is noticeable. This is pretty much always the case at this price though, so we’re far from surprised. Still, if you plan to take a lot of pictures in low-light, you’ll want to consider a more expensive option like the Google Pixel XL.

While this isn’t a camera shootout by any means, we can confidently say that the Pro 6 Plus’ rear camera produces slightly better stills than the OnePlus 3T‘s rear camera and considerably better stills than the ZTE Axon 7‘s. The Honor 8 still holds the crown at this price point though.

The front camera is an 5 MP f/2.0 shooter and performs about as well as we expected. The built-in Beauty mode doesn’t overdo it, too, which is great as many other beauty modes do.

The Pro 6 Plus’ rear camera can capture 4K video at 30fps. The video files are encoded using the new HEVC codec, which allows for smaller, more compressed files. Quality remains intact with this codec, but the files can prove challenging to play on some devices. You can always convert the files to a different codec if you have trouble, however.

Actual video quality is good but not great. We found the OIS to be a bit weak in our testing, but video otherwise looks pretty good.

The camera app has been slightly refined with Flyme 6, but offers the same great shooting experience as other Meizu devices. There’s a number of modes and filters available, yet the basic shooting experience remains easy to use.

You can access the camera by double pressing the home button

You can also access the camera by simply double pressing the home button. That gesture also works when the phone is locked, so you can pull up the camera app without having to unlock the phone when you want to quickly get a photo. This is a really nice feature to have so we’re glad that Meizu implemented it into the Pro 6 Plus.

Software

Unlike many Chinese smartphones, the key selling point of the Meizu Pro 6 Plus is the software. It runs Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow, but that’s not what makes the experience unique. It’s Meizu’s Flyme skin that adds a fresh layer of value to the Pro 6 Plus.

Although the Pro 6 Plus ships with Flyme 5, Meizu is nearly done with Flyme 6. At the time of writing, users can download and use a second beta version of Flyme 6, which is what we’ve decided to evaluate because of the significant changes that it brings to the table.

It’s sometimes difficult to convey why such a different but polished software experience is nice to use as many people gloss over the details once they hear “non-stock Android.” There are a bunch of Android skins out there. And, let’s face it: a lot of them are bad. That makes people dismissive, which is quite unfortunate as there are some really great non-stock experiences out there.

Flyme 6 may just be the best Android skin available

Flyme 6 is the best software that Meizu has developed to date, and may just be the best Android skin available to date. The clean design, performance enhancing AI, innovative features, and overall polish all help make Flyme 6 an absolute pleasure to use. It’s easily one of our favorite aspects of the Pro 6 Plus.

Meizu has redesigned Flyme 6 to be more colorful and bolder. The design philosophy is content driven and emotional, which makes for an intuitive and fun experience. It’s also very consistent; the design of the system apps reflects that of the system menus. Everything seems well thought out, which can most definitely not be said for many other Android skins.

We really like Meizu's drive to innovate

We also really like Meizu’s drive to innovate. Flyme 6 includes a great number of features that we have never seen before, let alone in stock Android. For example, the software categorizes notifications sent by apps as either important or non-important. You’ll get important notifications as you usually would, but non-important notifications get sent to a separate shade. You can customize this feature on a per-app basis, or just turn it off, but we really found it helpful in cutting out distractions.

There’s also a number of security features that have been added throughout the software. Not only is there nonintrusive built-in anti-virus, but there’s also Wi-Fi network security scanning. This feature can detect simple issues like non-encrypted traffic and more complex issues like DNS tampering and ARP poisoning.

For security features, there’s also a secure payment mode, which makes a number of system changes to prevent other apps from hijacking the phone. So, for example, when opening PayPal, Flyme automatically disables screen overlays, temporarily prevents other apps from reading SMS verification codes, and disables non-touch-screen inputs. There’s a few other changes too, but the initiative here to prevent attacks is commendable.

What’s nice about Meizu’s execution here is that they aren’t overdoing it with useless features. The logical approach is noticeable in many areas, and we wish other Android manufacturers would take some notes.

There are still some areas that need improvement

There are still some areas that need improvement, however. One of the most glaring issues is Meizu’s lack of an official relationship with Google. This means that they can’t install Google apps and services on their smartphones like other Chinese manufacturers can.

Meizu instead relies on unauthorized methods. While these methods are effective, some Google apps like Android Pay won’t work because they cannot determine whether Meizu follows Google’s security standards. Thankfully, we haven’t had any notification issues with the Pro 6 Plus.

One other thing to note is that Meizu’s updates generally only include changes to Flyme and not new versions of Android. This isn’t a major issue since Meizu is pretty good about bringing newer Android features to old versions of Android.

Still, we estimate the probability of the Pro 6 Plus receiving an Android 7.0 Nougat update to be highly unlikely. Given that Android 6.0 Marshmallow is already one and a half years old at the time of writing, this could be a deal breaker for some.

Gallery

Price

The Meizu Pro 6 Plus is now available in China and can be purchased in gold, silver, or black. The base model is 2999 RMB (≈$435) and includes 64 GB of storage and a 2.0 GHz Exynos 8890 processor. The higher-end model is 3299 RMB (≈$478) and includes 128 GB of storage and a 2.3 GHz Exynos 8890 processor.

Conclusion

Despite the recent explosive growth in the affordable flagship market, Meizu has still managed to deliver an option that truly stands out. Like many of its competitors, the Meizu Pro 6 Plus offers great hardware. It’s in the software, however, where the Pro 6 Plus inches ahead of its competitors.

It's in the software where the Pro 6 Plus inches ahead of its competitors

With the Pro 6 Plus, you’re getting a great camera, a wonderful display, excellent performance, and, of course, fresh and innovative software. While there are certainly some flaws — the NFC and heart rate monitor are disabled by global software, Google apps support is unofficial, and the phone lacks support for US 4G LTE — the Meizu Pro 6 Plus offers an exceptional experience for its target audience.

And, that will be all for our Meizu Pro 6 Plus review! We hope that you found this article informative. If you have any questions or comments, please leave them in the comment section below!

Meizu took the wraps off the M5 back in November 2016 in China. The company has now launched the mid-range device in India with a price tag of Rs. 10,499. It is available exclusively on Tata Cliq and can be yours in either the Blue or Champagne Gold color option.

The Meizu M5 launched in two variants in China: one with 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of storage and the other with 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of space. However, only the latter version has made its way to India.

Meizu M5, M5s, and M5 Note review

May 9, 2017

The smartphone comes with a 5.2-inch display with HD resolution (1,280 x 720 pixels) and 2.5D glass on top. It is powered by the MediaTek MT6750 chipset and features a microSD slot (up to 256 GB), which also doubles as a second SIM slot. The device is equipped with a 13 MP primary camera on the back and a selfie snapper that has a 5 MP sensor on the front. Meizu’s smartphone sports a fast fingerprint scanner that can unlock it in just 0.2 seconds, a 3,070 mAh battery, and runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow with a custom skin on top.

The Meizu M5 is already on sale in India. You can order yours by visiting Tata Cliq’s website via the button below.

]]>http://www.androidauthority.com/meizu-brings-m5-india-771970/feed/1Meizu M5, M5s, and M5 Note reviewhttp://www.androidauthority.com/meizu-m5-m5s-and-m5-note-review-769162/
http://www.androidauthority.com/meizu-m5-m5s-and-m5-note-review-769162/#commentsTue, 09 May 2017 12:57:48 +0000http://www.androidauthority.com/?p=769162Unlike virtually every Western smartphone manufacturer, Meizu has long delivered ultra-affordable smartphones with surprisingly few compromises. While the company has been no stranger to controversy with Apple-esque designs, alleged patent infringement, and benchmark cheating, it’s difficult to dismiss the amount of value Meizu brings to the table.

As a sequel to the M3 series, the M5 series looks quite promising on the surface. For just around $100, it appears that you can get a well-built, reasonably functional smartphone. So, does this perception reflect reality? If yes, are Meizu’s offerings superior to the competition? Let’s find out in our comprehensive review of the Meizu M5, M5s, and M5 Note!

Before we delve into our review, we wanted to quickly make note of our composite approach. Yes, this is indeed a single review of three distinct smartphones: the Meizu M5, M5s, and M5 Note. Admittedly, there are some differences between these models, some more significant than others. In order to reduce confusion and ensure a continuous tone, this review will balance the critiques of each of the three. Please feel free to let us know your thoughts on this style in the comment section at the very end of this review.

Design

The Meizu M5s and Meizu M5 Note follow Meizu’s standard design language. That is to say that they feature somewhat boxy, premium metal shells with deliberate antenna lines and craftily chamfered edges. The M5 Note is without plastic top and bottom caps, but otherwise is simply a slightly larger version of the M5s.

Meizu was able to deliver premium hardware at a fraction of the cost of the competition

Thus, the physical aspects of the M5s and M5 Note are pretty much identical. While you could certainly argue that these designs are derivative, it remains quite impressive that Meizu was able to deliver such premium hardware at a fraction of the cost of the competition. The relative scratch resistance, cleanly and consistently machined edges, and tactile power and volume buttons are all features that we wish we’d see more of in this price category.

Presumably to cut down on costs, the cheapest model of the trio, the Meizu M5, features a cheaper matte plastic design. While not as premium, the M5’s design is still quite nice. The build quality isn’t quite on par with the others, but it’s still a bit more than we expected at this price.

The M5 is the most ergonomic of the bunch

Plus, I personally found the M5 to be the most ergonomic of the bunch. The M5s and M5 Note are nice to hold, sure, but the M5 has more extreme curves. Combined with its smaller size, it’s no wonder why it stands out amongst the others.

Across the board, we have one minor complaint. The power and volume buttons are placed closely together; a lack of tactile differentiation on the power button sometimes made it difficult to find the correct button without fumbling around. This didn’t break the experience by any means, but it’s something that we wish Meizu will consider for future models.

Perhaps the most iconic design feature here is Meizu’s mTouch navigation system. Rather than following the herd of Android manufacturers following the standard three-key navigation system, Meizu has developed their own single-key solution.

The pros and cons of fingerprint scanner gestures

March 1, 2017

Multitasking is handled beautifully without any keys

Multitasking is handled beautifully without any keys; you can simply swipe up from the bottom to quickly lock or close any open apps. Combined with Meizu’s smooth animations, this gesture feels surprisingly natural in practice.

The two most common functions – home and back – are cleverly implemented into the single physical button. You simply tap to go back and press to go home. Although this implementation can certainly take a day or two to get used to, you’ll very likely find yourself missing it when returning to other Android devices.

To sweeten the deal, the single button also functions as a fingerprint reader. It’s not the fastest or most accurate reader in the world, but it gets the job done. And, for this price, that’s all you can really ask for.

Display

Meizu has taken a logical approach to the displays of the M5 series. The lower-end M5 and M5s feature small 5.2-inch displays, each with resolutions of 720p. The still low-end but ever so slightly more premium M5 Note, however, features a standard 5.5-inch 1080p display.

It seems that Meizu has designed the M5 Note with the heavy content consumer in mind, as its display is not only larger and of higher-resolution, but is also of higher quality. The M5 Note’s display is noticeably better than both the M5s’ and the M5’s; colors are reproduced more accurately and there’s a greater amount of contrast.

We're disappointed in the sunlight readability of all three models

The displays on the M5s and M5 are still acceptable, but they’re nothing to write home about. While we understand the need to cut costs, we’re disappointed in the sunlight readability of all three models. You definitely won’t be able to comfortably use these phones on sunny days.

There is some good news though. Unlike some competing options, the M5 series includes a standard oleophobic coating. This coating is often taken for granted, despite being very important for a “real glass” feel. We also didn’t notice any scratches on our units after a few weeks of use. These detailed attributes might sound small, but they really can make or break the overall experience.

Performance

To put it quite frankly: Meizu skimped on performance for each of the M5 devices. The phones are noticeably slow even when doing simple tasks like launching apps. We suppose that you might be able to get used to this over time. If you’re coming from an even slightly more expensive device, though, you’ll find these devices a bit poky.

When taking a look at the spec sheet, it becomes evident why this is the case. Although the series is being powered by octa-core Mediatek processors, each of the utilized processors are old, low-end chips. The selection process seems random at best.

The M5 uses the one-year-old MT6750, while the M5s uses the two-year-old MT6753, while still the M5 Note uses the one-and-a-half-year-old MT6755 (otherwise known as the Helio P10). It feels like Meizu is simply clearing stock of their old processors with these units given their inconsistent yet consistently poor choices.

These phones simply aren't intended for high performance tasks like gaming

It’s crucial to recognize that these phones simply aren’t intended for high performance tasks like gaming. If you’re looking for better performance at this price, you’ll want to look at phones that utilize Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processors instead. The Snapdragon 430, in particular, is superior to all that’s here.

Hardware

As is standard with Chinese smartphones, each of the M5 devices are unlocked and dual-SIM. Although there is support for 4G LTE in official markets, support in Western markets is limited. For example, you’ll be limited to 3G if you try to use these phones in the United States. We recommend steering clear if you live in or travel to Western countries like the US, as the inability to connect to 4G LTE networks is a massive drawback in this day and age.

Best dual-SIM Android phones

August 21, 2017

Some may grumble about the 16 GB of storage on each of the base variants, but we feel that the added support for microSD card expansion makes up for this, given the pricing strategy. While you do have to give up one of the SIM card slots in order to make it work, Meizu has given more flexibility than we expect at this price.

Although none of the Meizu M5 models support 802.11ac, each includes support for 5 GHz Wi-Fi. There’s also support for Bluetooth 4.0. During my time with these devices, I did not notice any signal issues. This is important because some manufacturers use lower quality antennas, which causes reduced signal levels. Fortunately, that does not appear to be the case here.

You'll want to stick to external audio with these phones

The built-in speakers vary in quality, with the M5 Note having the best speaker of the bunch and the M5s having the worst speaker of the bunch. With that said, even the M5 Note’s speaker sounds tinny and distorted. The M5s’ is even worse. Basically, you’ll want to stick to external audio with these phones.

Battery life

Ah yes, battery life. We were quite frankly expecting more from these phones during our testing, given their low-end processors and low-resolution displays. Please understand that our testing numbers overestimate actual battery life, since our testing was performed over 3G rather than 4G LTE, as the phones are not compatible with 4G LTE in the United States.

With that out of the way, I found the Meizu M5’s battery life to be just about average. I received around five and a half hours of screen on time over about thirty hours of use. That’s fine for a 3,070 mAh battery, I guess.

The M5s’ 3,000 mAh battery did slightly worse, lasting for around the same time but with about four and a half hours of screen on time. I find those numbers to be a bit disappointing, but nothing I couldn’t live with.

Strangely, the M5 Note, with the biggest battery of them all at 4,000 mAh, fared the worst. With the same type of usage, I was only getting around three hours of screen on time with a mere twelve hours of use. There was even a day when the phone died after eighteen hours with just one and a half hours of screen on time.

We suspect that there is a bug relating to “system service,” as it routinely uses a substantial amount of power, even when the phone is locked. If you were hoping to use the M5 Note for watching videos, you might want to think twice as you’ll really struggle to keep this phone alive with even light-to-moderate usage.

The decision to stick with microUSB seems a bit misguided at this point

The decision to stick with microUSB seems a bit misguided at this point, given the widespread adoption of USB Type-C. To be fair, much of the competition has not made the transition either, so we’ll let you decide whether this is a plus or a negative. At least you won’t have to buy new cables if you’re upgrading from a legacy device.

Camera

The Meizu M5, M5s, and M5 Note all include 13 MP f/2.2 rear cameras and 5 MP f/2.0 front cameras. Although it appears that each phone’s camera delivers different results, we noticed a few common themes when looking at our camera sample images.

Across the board, each phone struggled with dynamic range. As you can see in the images below, capturing buildings and the sky proved challenging, as the cameras could not properly capture both the highlights and the shadows. There’s also a noticeable lack of contrast, making photos look “flat” and sometimes lifeless compared to the actual scenes. To top it off, images were soft and lacked detail.

Meizu M5 camera samples:

The Meizu M5’s camera sits somewhere between the M5s and M5 Note in terms of quality. While it generally does an okay job, it tends to underexpose and reproduce colors as overly warm. While it’s certainly possible to get a decent shot with the M5, it offers nothing more than we expect at this price.

Meizu M5s camera samples:

Despite its higher cost, the M5s actually performed worse than the M5 in our testing. As you can see in the images above, the M5s had especially poor dynamic range. This made it extremely difficult to capture photos outdoors, as the phone oftentimes couldn’t properly expose entire scenes. There’s also a bit of noise in some of these photos, which surprised us given the amount of light available while shooting.

Meizu M5 Note camera samples:

The camera on the Meizu M5 Note performed better than the others, but not by much. Although there are some images that you’d probably never guess came from a $130 phone, many of the problems with the other models are also present here. Not only does the M5 Note also have a hard time with dynamic range, but it also incorrectly assessed focus on multiple occasions. Combined with largely hit or miss colors, and you’re left with a shooting experience that doesn’t really punch above average.

Each of these devices can capture 1080p video at 30fps, and we’ve included a sample clip captured with the M5 Note in our video review. To see the video for yourself, simply scroll to the top of this page.

The software aspect of the shooting experience remains the same from previous Meizu devices. As we have stated before, Meizu’s camera app is expectedly quite nice. There’s a nice amount of control, but enough balance to make it easy for a beginner to use.

Software

Thankfully, the M5, M5s, and M5 Note each run the same software out of the box: Meizu’s Flyme 5 on top of Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Meizu’s software has been some of our favorite in the past, so it adds a nice touch to the overall experience. Flyme is intentionally and radically different from stock Android, but that doesn’t mean it’s inherently bad.

Flyme offers a truly great core experience, even for foreigners

It’s Meizu’s design work and desire to simplify the user experience that makes Flyme such a pleasure to use day-to-day. The animations are thoughtful, the UI colors are punchy, and a special balance between customization and ease of use is achieved. Flyme offers a truly great core experience, even for foreigners.

Sadly, global firmware isn’t updated as frequently as Chinese firmware, so these models are still stuck on Flyme 5, even though Meizu has released Flyme 6 for the Chinese models. When we first started our testing, too, the M5 Note’s firmware had a few major bugs. Thankfully, those were ironed out with an update. However, it still raises concern as to how committed Meizu is to its global users.

The trouble for global users continues with how Flyme works with Google. Meizu does not have an official partnership with Google, which means that they are not allowed to offer Google apps and services on their smartphones. In order to appeal to global users, Meizu uses unauthorized methods to install and run Google apps and services.

While this approach works, there are some issues to be aware of. Undelivered Hangouts notifications, incompatibility with some apps like Android Pay, and general quirkiness are sadly part of the Meizu experience. You’ll also have to install Google apps using a separate installer app, as Meizu cannot preinstall the apps themselves. We hope that Meizu will take steps towards making an official relationship with Google possible in the future, as it would drastically improve the global user experience.

You’ll also want to keep in mind the update situation. Although Flyme gets updated for a relatively long period of time, Android and security patches do not. That means that you won’t be receiving an Android Nougat update anytime soon, let alone an Android O update. This isn’t unusual at this price, but it’s something to keep in mind.

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Price

The Meizu M5, M5s, and M5 Note are now available in China. If you’re in an unofficial market, you can import each device, but will likely face slightly higher prices. Please keep this in mind before making any big decisions.

The Meizu M5 is available in two variants, one with 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of storage for 699 yuan (≈$100) and the other with 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage for 899 yuan (≈$130). The available colors are blue, black, and gold.

The Meizu M5s is also available in two variants, one with 3 GB of RAM and 16 GB of storage for 799 yuan (≈$115) and another with 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage for 999 yuan (≈$145). The available colors are silver, gunmetal, gold, and rose gold.

The Meizu M5 Note is available in three variants, one with 3 GB of RAM and 16 GB of storage for 899 yuan (≈$130), another with 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage for 999 yuan (≈$145), and another with 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage for 1499 yuan (≈$215). The available colors are silver, gunmetal, and gold.

Conclusion

Meizu has once again developed super affordable smartphones with few compromises for its target audience. With premium hardware, software that punches above its weight, and detailed additions like fingerprint readers, it’s no wonder why Meizu continues to find success in this price segment. The amount of value offered by these smartphones cannot be understated when viewed within a vacuum.

However, competition exists and Meizu’s offerings don’t do much to stand out from the crowd. While it’s great to have options, we do not recommend these devices for Western users. The global software quirks, poor performance, and inconsistent battery life are major drawbacks, even for around $100.

Meizu's offerings don't do much to stand out from the crowd

If you’re looking for a device on the cheap, you should instead consider Xiaomi’s budget Redmi 4, Redmi 4a, and Redmi Note 4. While we are quite frankly not in a position to speak on how Meizu’s offerings compare to Xiaomi’s in official markets, we can say for certain that Xiaomi’s options provide an objectively better experience for global users. If you’re in the US, you’ll want to instead consider options that fully support US cellular networks.

You’ve made it to the end of our review of the Meizu M5, M5s, and M5 Note. We hope that this helps you make a more informed purchasing decision. If you plan on picking up one of the phones covered in this review, be sure to let us know in the comment section below!